Fastener inserting machines



p 1958 v T; A. KESTELL 2,851,688

FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 21, 1954 7 Sheets-Sfieet 1 W v Fig.1

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FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. l, i954 Invnior 7720777625 fi/feste I] hisflzzorn y Sept. 16, 1958 T. A. KESTELL FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES 7. Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 21, 1954 Jr; ventor I Th oma; fl Kes fell 'r. A. KESTELL 2,851,688 7 FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES Sept. 16, 1958 '1 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct, 21, 1954 A f} i1 I W T. A. KESTELL 2,851,688

FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES Sept. 16, 1958 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Oct. 21, 1954 In ven'tor 271cm as/Q Keste/Z 5 has firm/"nay p 1958 "r. A. KESTELL FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Oct. 21, 1954 [nven for Thomas 17. Kesfell FASTENER INSERTING MACHINES Thomas Aubry Kestell, Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., and Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 21, 1954, Serial No. 463,738

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 11, 1953 20 Claims. (Cl. 1-18) This invention relates to power operated fastener inserting machines, and more particularly it relates to an improved driver operating mechanism whereby the actuation of the fastener inserting driver may be selectively controlled by the machine operator, either to perform but one fastener inserting stroke of the driver, or to continue driving a succession of fasteners without cessation until the desired number of fasteners have been driven.

While the invention may be advantageously applied to many types of fastener inserting machines, for the present purpose of describing the novel features of the invention, it is herein illustrated as embodied in a tack driving machine of the general type frequently employed in the manufacture of shoes. Machines of this general type have a power operated tack driver for inserting tacks as the tacks are automatically supplied, one at a time, to a tack receptacle having a throat located in the operative path of the driver. A machine of this general type is illustrated and described in United States Patent No. 1,106,393, issued August 11, 1914, in the name of F. L. MacKenzie. Heretofore, in the construction of such machines, it has been the common practice to actuatethe driver by a spring and, thereafter, to recock the driver actuating mechanism by means of a power driven cam mounted on a shaft which is driven through a single revolution clutch, and is stopped in the desired position by a brake. During this one revolution, the cam acts first to cock the driver against the resistance of its spring, and, thereafter to release the driver, allowing the spring to impart fastener driving movement to the driver. Driver operating mechanisms of the type just described, although widely used, require frequent adjustments of the clutch and brake. In addition to the frequent maintenance costs for keeping such machines in proper adjustment, the cam, clutch, and brake construction are costly to manufacture.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide, for a fastener inserting machine, a driver operating mechanism which is comparatively simple, and is inexpensive to manufacture and to maintain in proper adjustment.

A further object isto provide a driver operating mechanism which may be operated for considerable periods without the need for adjustment.

With the above objects in mind the illustrative machine is provided with novel means for cocking and releasing a spring actuated driver. According to the present invention, the driver bar is connected to a driver operatted States Patent ing mechanism including a driver spring which is at one time loaded to prepare it for actuating the driver and is thereafter released to allow it to actuate the driver, and means for loading and releasing the driver spring comprising a driving member rotating continuously in a uni form direction. The mechanism also includes a continuously rocking member so mounted and connected with the driving member as to be rocked to and fro continuously as the driving member rotates, and a pawl arrangement 2,851,688 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 for connecting the continuously rocking member, at will, to an actuating member for loading the driver spring and thereafter releasing the driver spring to allow it to actuate the driver.

The illustrative machine, which will be hereinafter described in detail, is provided with treadle or manually operated means, including two pawls, by which the driver actuating member may receive operating movement from the rocking member. These treadle operated means may be manually set to cause the machine to drive a single tack when the treadle is depressed, or to continue driving a succession of tacks as long as the treadle is held depressed. One of the two pawls is but lightly loaded, during its engagement, it having only to apply to the actuating member suflicient force to trip a trigger lever to release the driver spring. The other pawl, after being engaged, is more heavily loaded since it has to cock the driver spring. This second pawl is provided with means to assure that it engages a catch plate mounted on the constantly rocking member at about the time when the rocking member reverses its direction of movement, thus lessening the shock as the pawl makes connection between the actuating member and the rocking member.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a front elevation showing a portion of a fastener driving machine embodying the driver actuating and driver control mechanisms of the present invention; certain parts of the illustrative machine being removed or broken away; said showing illustrating the machine in one of its operative phases.

Fig. 2 is a right-hand side elevation of said machine with certain parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of certain parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 3a is an enlarged view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, illustrating said parts in their inoperative positions;

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in section and viewed along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3, of certain parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of certain parts shown in Fig. 3;

(Iiig. 6 is a perspective view showing a detail of Fig. 3 an Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the positions of the parts during another operative phase.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the illustrated machine is provided with a driver 10, secured to the foot of a driver bar 12. The bar is slidably mounted through a portion of the machine frame 14, so that the bar 12 may be reciprocated vertically. A driver lever 16 having a forwardly extending arm 18, is pivotally mounted by a hub portion 20 (Fig. l) for rocking movement about a horizontal pin 22 secured to the side walls 24, 24 of an upwardly directed and bifurcated yoke portion of the frame 14. The forward end of the arm 18 is operatively connected to the top of the reciprocal driver bar 12 by a strut 26 having rounded ends, the lower end engaging a recess in the upper end portion of the driver bar, and the upper rounded end engaging a recess in the underside of the forward end portion of the driver arm 18. Two springs 28, 28 tend to elevate the driver bar and maintain both ends of the strut 26 flexibly engaged within their respective recesses.

A torsion spring 30, having one end portion bearing down upon a lug 32 formed 'on the lever arm 18, is coiled under tension about the axial hub 20 of the driver lever 16. The other end of the torsion spring is secured in a slot 34 formed radially in the adjacent wall of a rotatable tension adjusting collar 36 which is rotatably mounted upon the pin 22. The downwardly directed force which may be applied, by the spring to the driver arm 18, may be increased to the desired degree by rotating the collar 36 in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 2). When properly adjusted, the desired spring tension may be maintained by locking the collar by means of a securing pin 38, slidable in the adjacent wall 24 of the frame yoke member, and located so as to engage any one of a plurality of holes 40 drilled in the adjustment collar 36.

The above-described driver operating mechanism is Well known in connection with machines of the type disclosed in the before-mentioned MacKenzie patent. Also, the construction of the means for supplying fasteners, to be driven by the driver, forms no part of the present invention. However, as an aid to the clear understanding of the automatic operation of the illustrated machine, the tack-supplying means have been illustrated generally in Fig. 2. These means include a tack hopper H, a rotary tack pot P (shown broken away), a power driven belt B by which the pot is rotated to discharge fasteners onto a raceway R leading downward to a separator mechanism S which may be actuated, by any suitable manner, in conjunction with the actuation of the driver lever 16, thereby to release a fastener and place it in the operative path of the driver 10 each time the driver is returned to its elevated position.

In accordance with the present invention the actuating mechanism, for cocking the driver against the force of the driver spring 30, then latching the driver lever 16 in cocked condition, and for tripping the driver operating mechanism to insert a fastener, includes a power operated actuating lever and selectively controlled means for imparting movement to said lever either to produce a single fastener driving stroke or to cause the driver to operate continuously as long as a treadle remains depressed. Referring again to Figs. 1 and 2, a power driven link 42, which is selectively actuated as will be hereinafter described, is pivotally connected at its upper end to the rearwardly directed arm 44 of an actuating member or lever 46 which is rotatably mounted on the pin 22 between the driver lever 16 and one wall 24 of the adjacent frame portion. The actuating lever 46 has a forwardly extending arm 48 provided with an abutment 50 formed on its upper side and arranged, when the lever 46 is rocked by the link 42, to engage a lug 52 projecting beyond the side of the driver arm 18. Thus, when the actuating lever 46 is rocked to raise the arm 48, the driver lever 16 is also rocked by engagement of the abutment 50 with the lug 52, thereby causing the torsion spring 30 to be tightened and the driver bar 12 to be elevated.

To retain the driver lever 16 in its cocked position, a trigger member or lever 54 is pivoted on a pin 56 fixed in the wall of the frame portion 24. This trigger lever has a rearwardly extending arm 58 beneath the driver lever 16, and a rearwardly and upwardly extending arm 60 beneath the actuating lever 46. The trigger arm 58 is urged upward by a spring plunger 62 housed in the adjacent frame portion, so that a catch plate 64 (Fig. 2) fixed to the arm 58 normally rests against a catch plate 66 fixed to a downwardly extending arm 67 of the driver lever 16. When the driver arm 18 approaches its highest position, the catch plate 66 passes beyond the forward edge of the catch plate 64, so that the arm 58 acts as a latch to prevent the driver arm 18 descending as the actuating lever 46 commences to return after tightening the torsion spring 30. Toward the end of the return movement of the actuating lever 46, as the arm 48 approaches its lowest position (Fig. 2), an abutment 68 on the under side of the arm 48 engages a stop screw 70 threaded in the arm 60 of the trigger lever 54 to trip the trigger lever and allow the driver bar to descend in a fastener inserting stroke. Thus, the actuating lever 46 acts in one direction to cock the driver bar against the resistance of the torsion spring 30, in preparation for a fastener inserting stroke, and in the other direction to release the driver bar to make a fastener inserting stroke under the action of the spring 30. A tension spring 72 anchored to a hook 74 fixed in the arm 48 and to a hook 76 fixed to the frame 14 urges the abutment 68 toward the stop screw 70 but is not powerful enough to trip the trigger lever 54 against the resistance of the spring plunger 62.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that each time the power driven link 42 is drawn downward the driver operating mechanism will be cocked, and each time the mechanism is actuated by the raising of the link 42 the driver will operate to insert a fastener. However, as mentioned above, the present invention provides manually controlled selective means whereby the operator may cause the actuation of the driver operating mechanism to be either continuous or intermittent, depending upon the nature of the fastener inserting operation being, at the time, performed. That is to say, the upward and downward movement of the link 42 may be limited to one complete cycle without employing a clutch and brake mechanism to disconnect the driving force of a continually rotating power shaft.

Referring once more to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 3 through 6, the lower end portion of the link 42 is pivotally connected to a portion of a pin 78 fixed between its ends in an upwardly and rearwardly extending arm 80 of a lever 82. Two pawls 84 and 86 are pivoted on another portion of the pin 78 for a purpose described hereinafter. The lever 82 is freely rockable on a pin 88 fixed in the frame 14. Adjacent to the lever 82, a rocking member 90 is freely rockable on the pin 88. Fixed in a rearwardly extending arm 92 of the rocking member 90 is a pin 94 on which is pivoted the upper end portion of a connecting rod 96, the lower end portion of which rod is pivoted on a crank pin 98. This crank pin extends from a continuously running shaft journaled in the machine frame and driven from any suitable source of power, no clutching being necessary. Two catch plates 102 and 104 (Figs. 5 and 6) are mounted in an upwardly extending arm 106 of the rocking member 90; the catch plate 102 being arranged to cooperate with the first pawl 84, and the catch plate 104 being arranged to cooperate with the second pawl 86 to enable the rocking member 90 to impart its rocking motion to the lever 82 in a manner now to be explained.

The catch plate 102, which is arranged to engage the pawl 84, is immediately to one side of the catch plate 104 which is arranged to engage the pawl 86. Both pawls are independently urged downward, into engage ment with their respective catch plates by two springs 108, 108 housed in an overhanging lug 110 formed in the arm 80 of the lever 82. The catch plate 104 is fixed to a rearward face 112 (Fig. 6), formed in the arm 106, and its rearward face is arranged to engage along its upper edge the forwardly facing nose 114 of the pawl 86. Fig. 5 shows the nose 114 engaging the catch plate 104. The catch plate 102 swings on a pivot 116 between the face 112 and a forward surface 118 formed in the arm 106, and the forward face of the plate 102 is arranged to engage along its upper edge a rearwardly facing notch 120 formed in the pawl 84. A spring 122, housed in the arm 106, urges the catch plate 102 toward the face 112. Fig. 5 shows the notch 120 engaging the catch plate 102. A pin 124 fixed in the pawl 86 and extending above the pawl 84 limits downward movement of the pawl 86 relatively to the pawl 84 and hence prevents the nose 114 from approaching the catch plate 104 heightwise before the notch 120 engages the forward edge of the catch plate 102. To withdraw and release the pawls 84- and 86 a release lever 126 (Fig. 3) is pivoted between its ends on a pin 128 fixed on the frame 14 and lying above the pawls and parallel to the pin 88. This release lever 126 has a forward arm 130 on which is formed a nose 132, for a purpose hereinafter described, and which is urged downward by a tension spring 134; its downward movement being limited by a stop pin 136 fixed in the frame. When the release lever 126 is in engagement with the stop pin 136 (Fig. 3a), an abutment 138 on its rearwardly extending arm 140 is arranged to be engageable with a lug 142 which extends from a tail portion 144 of the pawl 84, and thus hold the pawl 84 lifted clear of the catch plate 102 as the arm 80 is urged forward by the spring 72 acting through the link 42 and actuating lever 46 (Fig. 2). When the pawl 84 is lifted, by the engagement of the lug 142 with the abutment 138 (Fig. 3a) the pawl 86 is lifted clear of the catch plate 104 by means of the pin 124 on pawl 86. Thus, so long as the release lever 126 remains in contact with its stop pin 136, although the rocking member 90 rocks continuously the lever 82 remains at rest held forward by the spring 72; the pawls 84 and 86 being held clear of the catch plates 102 and 104 by the release lever 126 so that no motion is transmitted to lever 82 by the continuous oscillation of the member 90.

When the release lever 126 is moved out of contact with the stop pin 136, by means hereinafter disclosed, the abutment 138 is lowered clear of the lug 142 and the pawls 84 and 86 are rotated about their pin 78 toward the catch plates 102 and 104 by their springs 108, 108. When the catch plate 102 is in contact with the face 112 the distance between the forward face of the catch plate 102 and the rearward face of the catch plate 104 exceeds the distance between the nose 114 and the notch 120; and the pin 124 therefore prevents the nose 114 engaging the catch plate 104 while the catch plate 102 engages the face 112. If, therefore, the lever 126 allows the pawls 84 and 86 to descend while the rearward face of the catch plate 104 is forward of the nose 114,1the nose 114 is held clear of the catch plate 104 by the pin 124, since the pawl 84 is above the catch plate 102. It should be noted that the catch plate 102 never passes forward of the forward end of the pawl 84. Thus the first operative connection between the lever 82 and the continuously rocking member 90 is made by the notch 120 of the pawl 84 engaging the catch plate 102, and swinging it against the resistance of the spring 122 until it meets the face 118. As soon as the catch plate 102, rocking about its pivot 116, meets the forward surface 118, the lever 82 starts to move and through link 42 causes the actuating member 46 to trip the trigger member 54, and release the driver bar 12 for its fastener driving stroke.

From what has been said it will be clear that the driver spring 30 at one time is loaded to prepare it for actuating the driver bar 12, and is thereafter released to actuate the driver bar. It is clear also that the means for loading and releasing the driver spring comprise the driving member 100 (which rotates continuously in a uniform direction), the continuously rocking member 90 (which is so mounted and connected with the driving member as to be rocked to and fro continuously as the driving member rotates), and a pawl arrangement (including the pawls 84 and 86) for connecting to the continuously rocking member, at will, the actuating member 46 for loading the driver spring and thereafter releasing it.

At the time the pawl 84 connects the lever 82 to the continuously rocking member 90, the latter is moving comparatively slowly since it is near the end of its swing and, since the force'required to trip the trigger member 54 is small, the pawl 84 is not required to withstand a heavy shock. As the catch plate 102 moves toward the face 118, the nose 114 becomes free to drop behind the catch plate 104 and moves forward behind it until the rocking member 90 reverses its direction of movement. As the rocking member 90 reverses its direction of movement, the pawl 86 takes over from the pawl 84, and moves the lever 82 in the reverse direction. The load on the pawl 86, which involves loading the driver spring 30, is

heavy, but, since this pawl comes into operation as the rocking member changes its direction of movement, it does not receive a heavy shock.

To operate the release lever 126, a forwardly extend ing treadle arm 146 is fixed to an end portion of a pin 148 journaled in the frame 14. The swinging end portion of the treadle arm 146 is pivotally connected to a spring returned treadle 150 (Fig. 2). This treadle is provided with stops 152 and 154 which limit its movement. Two latches 156 and 158 are pivoted on a pin 160, fixed in a rearwardly extending arm 162 fixed to an end portion of the pin 148, and rest against the nose 132 of the release lever 126, each held there by one of two tension springs 164 and 166 anchored to a pin 168 fixed in the frame.

The latch 156 is to one side of the latch 158 and each of these latches has a notch 170 which is just below the nose 132 when the treadle 150 is in its raised position (Fig. 2). Either notch 170 may act on the nose 132 to lift the arm of the release lever 126 up and away from the stop pin 136.

When the treadle is depressed, to rock the pin 148, the'latches 156 and 158 are raised. A stop screw 172 (Fig. 3), threaded in a lug 174 which projects to one side of an upwardly and forwardly extending arm 176 of the lever 82, is arranged to move the latch 158 forward out of engagement with the nose 132 as the arm 176 reaches its most forward position during the rocking movement imparted to the lever 82 by the rocking member 90.

An eccentric 178 (Figs. 1 and 4), mounted on an end portion of a pin 180 rotatable in a bracket 182 fixed to the frame, is arranged to engage the latch 156 and hold it out of engagement with the nose 132 when the eccentric 178 is in a particular angular position. A manual selection knob 184 fixed to an end portion of the pin 180 enables an operator to bring the latch 156 into and out of operation.

It will be seen that when the latch 156 is out of operation, depression of the treadle causes the latch 158 to rock the release lever 126, whereupon the rocking member 90 first moves the pawl 84 forward causing the lever 82 to trip the trigger lever 54, and then, through the stop screw 172, causes the latch 158 to release the release lever 126. The rocking memfber 90 then moves the pawl 86 rearwardly (Fig. 7) to cock the driver bar, and thereafter moves the pawl 84 forwardly until the lug 142 on the tail portion 144 of the pawl 84 meets the abutment 138 on the release lever, to withdraw the pawl 84 and bring the lever 82 to rest in preparation for another fastener driving stroke of the driver bar 12. The driver bar will not repeat its fastener driving stroke until the treadle 150 has been released (to lower the latches 156 and 158 and thus to bring the notch in the latch 158 below the nose 132), and again depressed to rock the release lever 126.

The machine, as'illustrated in the drawings, shows the latch 156 held forward in its inoperative position so that the machine will perform only a single driving cycle each time the treadle is depressed. It will be seen, however, that, when the latch 156 is in operation, the driver bar 12 continues to make successive fastener driving strokes so long as the treadle 150 is held depressed, because on depression of the treadle the release lever 126 is rocked to cause first the pawl 84 and then the pawl 86 to engage the rocking member 98, after which the lever 82 will rock with the rocking member 90 so long as the treadle remains depressed, since the latch 156 will continue to hold the release lever 126 away from its stop pin 136 and will thus prevent the stop screw 172 returning the release lever when, once in every complete swing of the lever 82, it withdraws the latch 158.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as applied to a tack fastener inserting machine, it is to-be understood that the present invention is in no way limited in its utility to such a type machine. The invention sought to be protected and as defined in the appended claim is of far broader utility and may be advantageously employed, with other machines, for inserting other types of fasteners, such as nails, pegs, or pins, even though the driver operating spring assemblages of the other machines may vary somewhat from the torsion spring assemblage herein illustrated.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired. to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a fastener inserting machine, in combination, a driver, a driver spring, an actuating member movable in one direction to retract the driver against the resistance of said spring, cocking means for holding the driver in retracted position, said actuating member being movable in an opposite direction to release said cocking means and permit operative movement of the driver under the urgency of said spring, a power operated continuously rocking member coupled to said actuating member by releasable coupling means which when engaged with the rocking member intermittently reverse the direction of movement of the actuating member.

2. A machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said coupling means includes a first pawl engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively light load and a second pawl engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively heavy load, the said first pawl being engageable with a catch plate yieldingly mounted on the continuously rocking member at a time when the continuously rocking member which is driven by an eccentric crank is about to change its direction of motion and therefore is moving relatively slowly, and the said second pawl being engageable thereafter, and as the said actuating member commences to move in the said one direction, with a face which is fixed with respect to the said continuously rocking member.

3. A machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said coupling means includes a first pawl which imparts to the actuating member movement in said opposite direction and a second pawl which imparts to the actuating member movement in the said one direction, there being manually shiftable means for selectively rendering the said first pawl operative.

4. A machine in accordance with claim 3 having throwout means which can be set by an operator to render the said first pawl and the said second pawl inoperative as soon as the said driver has made a single operative movement and has been recocked.

5. A machine in accordance with claim 3 wherein the said first pawl is engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively light load and wherein the the said second pawl is engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively heavy load, and wherein the said first pawl becomes operative before the said second pawl becomes operative.

6. A machine in accordance with claim 3 wherein the said first pawl is engageable with a catch plate yieldably mounted on the continuously rocking member and wherein the said second pawl is engageable with a face which is fixed with respect to the said continuously rocking member.

7. A machine in accordance with claim 6 wherein the said first pawl is engageable with the said catch plate at a time when the said continuously rocking member which is driven by an eccentric crank is about to change its direction of movement and therefore is moving relatively slowly.

8. A machine in accordance with claim 6 having means which prevent the said second pawl from engaging the said face until the said first pawl has engaged the said yieldingly mounted catch plate and caused it to move relatively to the said continuously rocking member.

9. A fastener inserting machine having in combina- 8 tion, a driver, a driver operating mechanism including a driver spring which at one time is loaded to prepare it for actuating the driver and is thereafter released to allow it to actuate the driver, and means for loading and releasing the driver spring comprising a power operated driving member rotating continuously in a uniform direction, a continuously rocking member actuated by the driving member so as to be rocked to and fro continuously as the driving member rotates, and a releasable pawl means connecting the continuously rocking member, at will, to an actuating member which when thus connected moves in one direction for loading the driver spring and thereafter moves in the opposite direction for releasing the driver spring to allow it to actuate the driver.

10. A machine in accordance with claim 9 wherein the driver is held cocked by a trigger member, and wherein the said movement of the actuating member in said opposite direction trips the trigger member and thus causes the driver to be released for operative movement under the act-ion of the driver spring.

11. A machine in accordance with claim 9 wherein the said pawl means includes a first pawl which when operatively engaged imparts to the actuating member movement in said opposite direction and a second pawl which when operatively engaged imparts to the actuating member movement in the said one direction.

12. A machine in accordance with claim 11 having throw-out means which can be set by an operator to render the said first pawl and the said second pawl inoperative as soon as the said driver has made a single operative movement and has been recocked.

13. A machine in accordance with claim 11 wherein the said first pawl. is engageable with a catch plate yieldably mounted on the continuously rocking member and wherein the said second pawl is engageable with a face which is fixed with respect to the said continuously rocking member.

14. A machine in accordance with claim 13 having means which prevent the said second pawl from engaging the said face until the said first pawl has engaged the said yieldingly mounted catch plate and caused it to move relatively to the said continuously rocking member.

15. A fastener inserting machine having in combination, a driver operating mechanism including a driver actuated by a driver spring, a trigger member to hold said driver against the actuation of the driver spring, an actuating member movable inone direction to cock said driver and in an opposite direction to cause the bigger member to release said driver for operative movement under the action of the driver spring, a power operated continuously rocking member, and selectively controlled coupling means for connecting said actuating member to said continuously rocking member.

16. A machine in accordance with claim 15 wherein the said coupling means includes a first pawl engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively light load and a second pawl engageable for moving the actuating member against a relatively heavy load, the said first pawl being engageable with a catch plate yieldingly mounted on the continuously rocking member at a time when the continuously rocking member which is driven by an eccentric crank is about to change its direction of motion and therefore is moving relatively slowly, and the said second pawl being thereafter engageable, as the said actuating member commences to move in the said one direction, with a face which is fixed with respect to the said continuously rocking member.

17. A machine in accordance with claim 15 wherein the said coupling means includes a first pawl which imparts to the actuating member movement in said opposite direction and a second pawl which imparts to the actuating member movement in the said one direction, there bein manually shiftable means for selectively rendering the said first pawl operative.

18. A machine in accordance with claim 17 having throw-out means which can be set by an operator to render the said first pawl and the said second pawl inoperative as soon as the said driver has made a single operative movement and has been recocked.

19. A machine in accordance with claim 17 wherein the said first pawl is engageable with a catch plate yieldably mounted on the continuously rocking member and wherein the said second pawl is engageable with a face which is fixed With respect to the said continuously rocking member.

10 20. -A machine in accordance with claim 19 having means which prevent the said second pawl from engaging the said face until the said first pawl has engaged the said yieldingly mounted catch plate and caused it to move relatively to the said continuously rocking member References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 22,266 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1903 

